The price marker of the instant invention has been designed to enable simultaneous price marking of all containers within a case or carton of containers.
Conventionally, containers to be price marked are individually marked by means of a price stamp which is adjustable to stamp the desired price marking. When a plurality of containers shipped within a carton are to be price stamped before being placed on display in a retail store, the top of the case or carton is removed to expose the upper ends of the containers packaged within the carton. Then, the price marker to be used is adjusted to stamp the desired price marking and the price marker is individually stamped on the top of each container.
It is customary for containers within a case or carton to be placed in four rows of containers with each row of containers including three containers. In this manner, a dozen containers are exposed when the top of a case or carton is removed prior to price marking of the containers. While some cartons may include only a single layer of containers, other cartons may contain as many as two, three or four layers of containers with each layer including twelve containers.
If a carton contains two layers of twelve containers each of the carton may be cut in a horizontal plane about the vertical center of the carton and the upper half thereof may be removed from about the containers in the upper layer within the carton. Then, the top layer of containers is price marked and placed on display leaving the bottom layer of containers exposed for price marking.
Bearing in mind that there are usually twelve containers in each layer packaged within a case or carton of containers, it may then be seen that it would be possible to construct a price marker including twelve price stamp assemblies arranged in four rows of three price stamp assemblies each. Then, structure could be provided for simultaneously adjusting corresponding stamp wheels or belts of the twelve price stamp assemblies and after all of the price stamp assemblies have been properly adjusted all twelve containers in a layer of containers within a case or carton could be simultaneously price stamped. However, various different sizes of containers such as boxes or cans of foodstuffs are packaged in cartons including twelve containers in a layer. Thus, the spacing between the central portions of the upper ends of twelve small containers in a small carton is appreciably less than the spacing between twelve large containers in a larger carton. Accordingly, inasmuch as there are various size cartons of containers of foodstuffs shipped to food stores and the like, a food store would have to be provided with various different sizes of gang-type price markers with one size gang-type price marker being provided for each size carton having twelve containers in each layer of containers. Therefore, the concept of gang-type price markers has heretofore not been adaptable to usage in food stores and the like which have cases or cartons of different size containers to be price marked.
Examples of price stamping devices including individual price stamp assemblies and gang-type price markers heretofore patented may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,132,519, 2,551,092, 2,703,017, 2,946,279, 3,101,047, 3,166,243, 3,241,482, 3,309,987 and 3,630,143.
The gang-type price marker of the instant invention has been constructed to provide a means whereby all of the containers in a layer of containers within a case or carton may be price stamped at one time. The price marker is constructed in a manner whereby the spacing between rows of price stamp assemblies thereof may be adjusted in order to adjust the price marker for stamping all of the containers in a layer of containers within cartons of different sizes. Further, the price marker includes novel structure whereby the stamp wheels of each price stamp assembly may be readily adjusted.
The main object of this invention is to provide a gang-type price marker constructed in a manner whereby the spacing between selected price stamp assemblies thereof may be varied in order to adapt the gang-type marker for simultaneously marking all containers in a layer of containers within cases of different sizes.
Another object of this invention is to provide a gang-type price marker including means by which the price stamping wheels of each price stamping assembly may be adjusted as desired from a single adjustment control station including an operator for each set of corresponding price stamping wheels of the price stamping assemblies.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a gang-type price marker constructed in a manner whereby the price stamping assemblies thereof may have the spacing therebetween adjusted as desired and with the gang-type price marker including a single operator for adjusting the spacing of the adjustable price stamp assemblies.
A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a gang-type price marker in accordance with the preceding objects and which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble-free in operation.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.